Folding cot.



I. S. PURCELL. 4FoLmNG co1.

APPLICATION FILED NDV. l5. 19H

1,262,600. n Patented rApr. 9, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SBEET i.

IS.PURCELL FOLDING CGT.

APPLxcATIoN FILED Nov. 15. |911.

1 ,262,600. Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

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l. S. PURCELL.

FDLDING COT.

APPLICMmN HLED nov. 15. 19H.

1,262,600. Patented Apr. 9,1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

In v-enor.'

UNITED smoes PATENT OFFICE.

:sue s. romeu, or osx rmx, ILLINOIS, Assieme. 'ro rnmoiann coMPANY, or

omesso, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINoIs.

FOLDING COT.

Bpecieation of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

Application led November 15, 191.7. Serial No. 202,169.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Iseno S. PURCELL, citizen of the United States, residing et Oak Park, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Gets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it nppertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to folding cots, its general objects being to provide a folding cot adapted to be easily erected in rigid fashion, and to be readily folded into com paratively few but compact units. More partieularly, my invention sims to provide a folding` cot in Whioli all of the constitul ent elements excepting the crossbrzices are permanently connected. to euch other and yet adapted to be folded into en unusually compact space; in which the side mils may readily he folded upon themselves and then swung against opposite feces of the end rails Without clisoonneeting them from these end rails; in which the legs are permanently carried by the side rails, and in which these legs are adapted to be folded against these side rails, so es to be compacted with the letter 'when the side rails are folded against the end rails as above described. Moreover, my invention aims to provide a oot frame construction in which eaeli side ruil consists of two portions adapted to fold upon each other, .find in which the hinge connecting: these portions prevents relative lateral movement of the side portion but permits only a limited movement thereo beyond the opening of the folded side rail to a `position in which the side rail portions aline with each other. Furthermore, my invention aims to provide a cot frame in which the cross bar is locked in positionl by latehing elements engaging the metal hook terminals of the cross bar. My invention also aims to provide simple and strong Ineens for se` curing the end rails to the said rails while permitting the relative movement. thereof when tlierframe is to be folded into a. oompact forni, and, to provide simple ineens for tensioning the bed of the cot by imparting one or more quarter-rotations to one of the end rails. Still otln ob will appear from the following speci motion :ind from the accompanying drawings, in which draw'- m vgure l is anend View of the eot and tent-supporting frame of my invention, the tent proper being omitted.

Fig. i5 is a side elevation of the seme.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged frigmentary per-k spectiveview of a portion of one of the tentsupporting ribs, showing the method of joining the flexible .unil inflexible parts of such u rib.

Fig. 4 is a hmm orso sect-ion through Fig. 3, along` the line` l l. Y

Fig. 5 .is a plan view of the oet, taken after the toutsupporting fname has been removed from 'the same. v

Fig. U a vplan view showing the cot frame it appears when being folded.

7 is aV central transverse* section through the cot frame when filly folded and when the canvas bed bottom is Wrapiied around. the seme.

Fig. 8 is nn enlarged. side elevation of one oi the side rails and the legs oarried thereby, when completely folded.

Fig. 9 is o plan View of one of the end rails und of the tivo side rail members Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a corner portion of the cot frame, showing the arrange nient oi eertain hinges and the sot-L ,rting of the tent-supimrting rib.

Fig. .il is :t fragmentary rnd View of the col.. .showing the :irraogvniei1t of the saine hinges ond of the intel; for om` ond et a erosshra'oe.

Fig. 12 is en enlarged fragmentary eleva` tion of the center portion of a side rail and the parts associated therewith, showing the side rail portions swung to their extreme open position.

Referring first to the means for supporting' a tout or canopy over the cot, this consists of a collapsible frame mounted on the frame of the cot and desirably formed of only two separable parts. Each of these parts, in the embodiment illustrated, inoludes a pair of ribs pivoted :it their upper end to each other and io a ridge piece 1, in combination with i'olilnhle braces 2 eonneoting the ridge piece with. the `respeetive ribs. The ridire plenos l are referably made of anglesteel and one os tboin desir extending ably7 has at its free end a socket 3 adapted to be entered bythe free end of the other ridge piece, after the manner disclosed 1n m copending application N o. 134854. Each o the ribs Vreferably consists of a substantially in exible upper portion 4, desirably made of angle steel, and a lower continuation portion 5 made of resilient material and here shown as composed of a bar of round steel. The bar 5 is so joined to the rib part 4 as to aline with the latter when the rib is detached from the cot, for which purpose the upper part of the rod 5 desirably extends through a tubular forma-- tion 6 formed by rolling up the lower end of the angle bar Jl-.(a in Fig. Q3) and terminates in an eye 7 suitably secured to this bar. To support the tent ribs in operative position, I equip the frame of the cot with upwardly open. sockets adapted to receive the lower ends of the bars 5, which sockets desi'rably include vertical .bores extending through the side rails. Being vertical, each of these bores will tend to hold one of the ribs in. a vertical position, While the pivotal connection between the ribs will tend to form the latter into a triangle. Consequently, the pair of ribs when thus socketed respectively 1n the bores of the two opposite side rails will assume the positlon of Fig. 1, thus affording both a handsom'er appearance anda considerably tive width than would be o tained with rigid ribs entering oblique sockets as shown in dotted lines. In other words, the ribs rise substantially vertically for some distance from the cot frame, thereby giving a clear Width equal to the bed of the cot for a sufficient height to prevent the occupant of the cot from readily contacting with the sides of the tent spread over the ribbed frame. l

For the cot itself, I preferably provide a construction comprising only four separable pieces, three ot' which are equivalent crossbraces. The fourth or main cot portion includes as foldable but permanently connected elements the bed-bottom, the end rails Secured to the bed-bottom, the foldable side rails secured to the bed-bottoni, the foldable side rails both secured to one of the end rails, and the legs hinged to the side rails. Each side rail. preferably consists of two parts 9 and 10 connected by a hinge comprising a trough 11 fastened to the rail 10 and eyond the 'end of the latter, and a plate 12 pivote'd to the said trough and fastened to the rail 9, the pivot 13 being normally above the top of both rail portions as shown in Figs. 2 and 12. The trough 11 preferably has its lower or back portion so shaped as to afford a slight bend substantially at its middle, so that when the right hand half of this back is horizontal as eater effecl shown in Fig. 12, the left hand half will slope downwardly somewhat. Consequently, the hinge as described will be allowed to open a little more than 180 degrees, thus adapting the cot 'frame for use on somewhat uneven ground without calling the back of the trough into service for partly supporting the ovcrhanging side rail portion unless the unevenness of the ground is considerable. I also preferably pivot the center legs to the troughs of the hinges, as by riveting a downwardly open U-shaped strap 14: to each of to secure firmly to each other without the use of tools, I preferably construct this cot frame oi two main portions permanently connected by the canvas or bed bottom of the cot, thus leaving as separate and entirely detachable members only the three crossbraces which space the three pairs of laterally opposed egs respectively. For this purpose, I preferably connect the ends of the foldable side rails respectively to end rails 16 and 17 by L-shaped hinges all having Shanks extending parallel to the Side rails and crossbars' extending -in one .and the same transverse direction as `shown in Fig. 5. From this ligure it will 'be obvious that by folding the side rails upon themselves the hinge plates at the ends of each side rail will aline with each other. Then one entire side rail in its folded form may readily be swung against the inner face of the end rail to whichit is still and permanently pivoted, While the other folded side rail may be likewise swung against the outer face of the same end rail as indicated in Figs. 6 and 9. Moreover, this can be done Without detaching the canvas from either end rail and without detaching either the legs or the braces connecting the legs to the side rail portions. To facilitate this, each center leg 15 and theend leg 19 pivotally connected to the same side rail portion 10 are made short enough to both fold against the under side of this element 10, while each of the other end legs 20 can similarly fold against the under side of the sidel rail '9, which latter under side becomes a top when the portion 9 is folded over upon the part 10. Thus the entire cot, frame (with the exception of the three cross-braces 21) folds into the form of Figs. 8 and 9 and permits the canvas bed bottom to be wrapped around these folded parts as shown-in Fig. 7.

To prevent the strain due to the iexing of the rib elements 5 from gradually enlarging the sockets into which the lower end of these rods 5 are slipped, I preferably use for such sockets, bores alining with corresponding perforations in the L-hinge plates 22 and 23 disposed respectively above and below e'ach of the side rail members, so that these bores in the hinge plates will serve instead of bushings for preventing the rod 5 from gradually enlarging the interposed vertical bore in the wood of the side rail part. In so doing, I also desirably use the upper end of the adjacent end leg as a stop for the tip of the rod 5, thereby automatically gaging the latter without requiring additional elements for this purpose.

For the cross-braces, I preferably use Wood bars 21 each equipped at each end with a metal plate 25 having at its tip a hook adapted to engage a pin 26 on the adjacent leg, and I likewise pivot the bar 21 to a brace 27 adapted to hook on to another pin or lug 2S placed higher on the adjacent leg than the aforesaid pin 26. To prevent the cross-braces from being loosened out of its normal position (as shown in Fig. 11) I preferably provide a metal latch 29 pivoted to the adjacent leg and arranged for bearing against the upper surface ofthe hookplate 25 to maintain the latter in its locked position. To secure the desired tension in the canvas bed bottom and to take up slack or the like in case of a stretching after long use, I preferably provide one of the end rails with a pair of transverse bores either one of which may receive a thumb bolt 18,

as shown in Fig. 10, thereby permitting the effective length of the canvas 24 to be increased by w'rapping the canvas one or more additional quarter turns around the adjacent end rail. However, while I have thus described a desirable embodiment of my invc'n bien including certain details of construction and arrangement, I do not Wish to be limited to the same except as im lied by the accompanying claims, it being o vious that many modifications might be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Moreover, having more fully described and claimed the tent-supporting and ribforming features of my invention in a separate application, filed January 5, 1918 as Serial No. 210,439, I do not here claim these features, although they are desirably employed in connection with the folding features of my cot frame to afford a readily compacted and effectively hooded cot which will provide an unusual width where the latter is most needed, and which will also afford both a handsome ap earance for the hooded structure and an e ective watershed in case of rain.

I claim as my invention:

1. A folding cot comprising a bed bottom, a pair of end rails secured to said bottom, and a pair of frame members carrying the said end rails; each of the said frame members comprising a jointed side rail pivoted at one end to one end of an end rail, and legs pivotally connected to the side rail; the end rails being adapted to be laid one upon another, and the two side members being adapted to have component parts compactly folded and to be thereafter swung about their said pivotal connections to the end rails respectively against opposite faces of the two superimposed end rails.

2. A fol ing cot construction as per claim 1, including a bed bottom of canvas or the like secured at its ends respectively to the two end rails of the cot, said bed bottom being adapted to be folded upon-itself when one end rail is superimposed on the other, and the doubled bed bottom being adapted thereafter to be wrapped around the frame structure composed of the two end rails and the folded side members disposed respec` tively at opposite sides of the said superimposed end rails.

3. A folding cot as per claim l, including identical L-shaped hinge plates facing in the same direction and connectin both frame members with one end rail, an thereby adapting the two frame members to be folded respectively against the inner and outer faces of the said end rail.

4. A folding cot as per claim .1, including L-shaped plates fast respectively upon a side rail portion of each frame member and pivoted to the opposite ends of one end rail, the said end rail being equipped for permitting the pivotal connections to be made to it in two relatively transverse positions, whereby the said end rail may be partially rotated to tighten or loosen the bed-bottom of the cot.

Signed at Chicago, October 24th, 1917.

ISAAC S. PURCELL. 

